Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The women's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held in London and 5 other cities in the United Kingdom. This was the first FIFA women's competition in the United Kingdom.

2012 Women's Olympic football tournament
Tournament details
Host country United Kingdom
Dates25 July – 9 August 2012
Teams12
Venue(s)(in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions United States (4th title)
Runner-up Japan
Third place Canada
Fourth place France
Tournament statistics
Matches played26
Goals scored70 (2.69 per match)
Attendance568,348 (21,860 per match)
Top scorer(s)Canada Christine Sinclair (6 goals)
2008
2016

Qualification

Twelve teams qualified:

Group stage

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Great Britain 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 9
  Brazil 3 2 0 1 6 1 +5 6
  New Zealand 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
  Cameroon 3 0 0 3 1 11 –10 0

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Sweden 3 1 2 0 6 3 +3 5
  Japan 3 1 2 0 2 1 +1 5
  Canada 3 1 1 1 6 4 +2 4
  South Africa 3 0 1 2 1 7 –6 1

In Group F play before the official opening ceremonies, the Japanese team won the first match against Canada at Coventry on July 25 [1] The Japan-South Africa game was a draw with no goals for each team.[2] The Japan-Sweden game was also a draw with no score.[3]

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  United States 3 3 0 0 8 2 +6 9
  France 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
  North Korea 3 1 0 2 2 6 –4 3
  Colombia 3 0 0 3 0 6 –6 0

In Group G play, the American women won each of three matches.[4]

Ranking of third place teams

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Canada 3 1 1 1 6 4 +2 4
  New Zealand 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
  North Korea 3 1 0 2 2 6 –4 3

Knockout stage

The tournament had a single-elimination format. When a team lost a match, the competition was ended for them. In other words, when a team won, the women continued to play until only one team remained as the Olympic champion.

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                   
3 August – Coventry        
   Great Britain  0
6 August – Manchester
   Canada  2  
   Canada  3
3 August – Newcastle
     United States  4  
   New Zealand  0
9 August – London
   United States  2  
   United States  2
3 August – Glasgow
     Japan  1
   Sweden  1
6 August – London
   France  2  
   France  1
3 August – Cardiff
     Japan  2  
   Brazil  0
   Japan  2  

In the first match at St James Park in Newcastle between New Zealand and the United States, the 2-0 victory of the US women ended New Zealand's participation in the 2012 games.[5] In the semi-final match at Old Trafford in Manchester, the US women won a 4-3 victory over Canada in the last minute of extra time in overtime.[6]

In the opening match at Cardiff between Brazil and Japan, the Brazilians were forced out of the tournament after losing to Japan 2-0.[7] In the match at Wembley Stadium in London between France and Japan, the Japanese team won 2-1.[8]

Bronze medal match

9 August 2012
13:00
Canada   1 – 0   France Ricoh Arena, Coventry
Referee: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden)
Matheson   90' Report

Gold medal match

The United States women's national soccer team and the Japan women's national football team met in the gold medal match.[9] This was a rematch of teams which played for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. The match was played at the Wembley Stadium in London on August 9, 2012. The American team won the match 2-1.[10]

9 August 2012
19:45
United States   2 – 1   Japan Wembley Stadium, London
Referee: Bibiana Steinhaus (Germany)
Lloyd   8'54' Report Ōgimi   63'

Statistics

Football At The 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's Tournament Media

Related pages

References

  1. London2012, "Japan start with a win" Archived 2012-07-27 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-7-25.
  2. Japan-South Africa, July 31 at London2012.com Archived 2012-08-07 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-8-6.
  3. ABCNews.com, "Sweden Holds Japan to 0-0 Tie at Olympics," July 31, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-6.
  4. USSoccer.com, 2012 Olympic Games Archived 2012-08-07 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2012-8-7.
  5. Woodcock, Fred. "Football Ferns eliminated by USA in quarters," Stuff.co.nz, 4 August 2012; retrieved 2012-8-7.
  6. Borden, Sam. "U.S. Women Win a Thriller on a Header," New York Times (US). August 7, 2012; excerpt, "Suddenly, a pink headband rose high in the air and Alex Morgan, the speedy American star forward, used her head to send the ball on a perfect arc, just over the goalkeeper’s hand and just under the crossbar, for a 4-3 victory"; see also, Jerry Hinman. "U.S. 4, Canada 3: A match great beyond great," CBSSports, August 6, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-7.
  7. "Brazil make shock exit from women's football event after losing to Japan 2-0," The Telegraph (UK). August 3, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-3.
  8. "Japan reaches women’s football final after holding on to beat France 2-1,"[dead link] Washington Post (US), August 6, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-6.
  9. US Woman's National Team, "USA-JPN: Lineups Are In," August 18, 2012; excerpt, USA: 1-Hope Solo; 17-Lori Chalupny, 15-Kate Markgraf, 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone-Capt.; 7-Shannon Boxx, 11-Carli Lloyd, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 5-Lindsay Tarpley; 16-Angela Hucles, 8-Amy Rodriguez ... JPN: 1-Miho Fukumoto; 2-Yukari Kinga, 3-Hiromi Ikeda, 4-Azusa Iwashimizu, 7-Kozue Ando; 14-Kyoko Yano, 8-Aya Miyama, 10-Homare Sawa, 15-Mizuho Sakaguchi, 11-Shinobu Ohno, 17-Yuki Nagasato; retrieved 2012-8-29.
  10. Parker, Graham. "Olympic women's soccer 2012 – USA 2-1 Japan - as it happened," The Guardian (UK). August 12, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-20.